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Motorist who fled Topeka police unexpectedly leaves hospital

Police chief says arrest warrant likely to be issued

A fire official talks to a firefighter at the scene of a two-vehicle rollover crash at S.E. 4th and Golden.

A 39-year-old Topeka man hospitalized for injuries he sustained in a violent wreck in East Topeka after leading police on a pursuit has unexpectedly walked away from hospital care, Topeka Police Chief Ron Miller said Friday.

Miller said the driver of the Camaro police chased Jan. 14, which resulted in a double rollover crash at S.E. 4th and Golden, left Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center recently without being discharged.

“We did not have a guard on him because they thought he was hurt worse,” Miller said.

The day after the incident, police identified the driver of the Camaro as Anthony G. Vicchiullo.

Miller said police reports have been forwarded to the district attorney’s office for charging considerations. The police chief said a warrant for Vicchiullo’s arrest likely will come.

“As soon as a warrant is issued we’ll go pick him up or find him,” Miller said.

The police chief on Friday also divulged why officers attempted to stop the Camaro near S.W. 24th and Topeka Boulevard — a traffic infraction after leaving a suspicious house.

The Camaro left an address police had under surveillance, Miller said, and then the driver of the car committed a traffic violation.

Police attempted to pull over the vehicle for the infraction, Miller said, but also to gather information about where the driver had been.

“Instead of yielding to officers he fled and the pursuit started,” Miller said.

The chase was brief — beginning about 1:41 p.m. and ending around 1:44 p.m. when the Camaro and a sport utility vehicle not involved in the chase collided at S.E. 4th and Golden, resulting in both vehicles rolling and sustaining heavy damage.

A witness told The Topeka Capital-Journal he estimated the Camaro was fleeing at 80 to 100 mph moments before the wreck. The witness said police trailed the vehicle by a block or so.

The driver of the SUV — identified as Brian S. Slaton, born in 1975 — reportedly suffered serious injuries but was said by police to be stable a day after the wreck.